NCJ Number
122445
Date Published
1987
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This paper describes the evaluation design to be used in measuring the impact of Canada's reform of rape laws.
Abstract
The evaluation's objectives are to describe how the law has been implemented and how it works in the criminal justice system, assess its impact on victims' experiences as well as the criminal justice system, and identify the law reform's unintended impact. The evaluation will document quantitative information related to complaint and case characteristics, reporting, founding, charging, conviction rates, and sentencing patterns. Qualitative information will be collected on victims' and criminal justice personnel's experiences, perceptions, and attitudes. The study will also obtain a mixture of quantitative and qualitative information related to the law's implementation. The major focus of the study will be field research at six sites over 10 months. Evaluation methods will include court observation by trained observers, the collection of information from criminal justice records and sexual assault centers for 2 years before and 3 years after the laws's implementation, and structured and unstructured interviews with criminal justice personnel, sexual assault victims, and sexual assault center personnel.